You are likely familiar with Chutes and Ladders. I, for one, didn’t realize it was a Westernized version of an ancient pagan board game (Just kidding. I don’t know it was ancient at all. Oh, hush. I kid the Pagans).
But yeah, the way Rushdie explains Snakes and Ladders is that it is basically Chutes & Ladders, only with philosophy. The philosophy goes beyond reward and punishment, though. Order & rational thinking lead to reward and enlightenment. Chaos, random, and giving into emotional temptations lead to downfall. Very Jedi.
Rushdie does point out the inconsistency, that sometimes downfall can come from rational thinking, just as reward can come from the most random decisions (say, Saleem’s mother consistently winning at the horse races).
In any event, I thought this was pretty cool.
Filed under: Novels | Tagged: Board Games, Books, Children's Games, Jedi, Midnight's Children, Rationalism, Rushdie
